Henry Rifle Forums

Over the last month I have been playing again with 38-55 quite a bit. Its an old black powder cartridge and I feel like is the Rodney Dangerfield of older calibers. Ive had a fondness for the caliber since my days of shooting long range with Shilohs. I always wanted a single shot in that caliber and just didnt ever get one. But now after playing with my 38-55 in a Henry and Marlin i know one thing if I could only keep one centerfire gun for doing it all it would without a doubt be a 38-55. Mild to wild it has it all. Plinkin with it is like plinking with a 357 levergun its recoil is that mild. Maybe someday I will run across one in a single shot and I will get one. Although Im not currently looking. Theonly downside I see to this cartridge is availability. But if you are a reloader like me its all good. I love the 38-55

Some folks don't know that Winchester once loaded a high velocity load for the 38-55. It was meant for Winchester and Marlin leverguns and not the Stevens 44 action. Anyone who has a serious interest in firearms should have a copy of CARTRIDGES OF THE WORLD.

I believe I do have a copy of that book but not certain. I need to look in the reloading den

I agree there Al, it is a fine caliber. Mine is going hunting this year.
With the addition of the scope on mine, I feel more confident in my efforts.
If I'd discovered it sooner in life I would own more than one rifle in the caliber.

RP

Travlin wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 25, 2025 11:29 pm

Some folks don't know that Winchester once loaded a high velocity load for the 38-55. It was meant for Winchester and Marlin leverguns and not the Stevens 44 action. Anyone who has a serious interest in firearms should have a copy of CARTRIDGES OF THE WORLD.

I don't own a copy, guess I need to start looking.

RP

I must confess the Swaging die set for .375 was the right price at the moment. Prior to that I'd no concept of a .375 gun. I started doing a bit of research and the 38-55 seemed to fit the bill for what I like to shoot. The issue was, I want to shoot suppressed. The 38-55 had light 200 to 335 grain capabilities (335's are single feed.)

I also wanted the opportunity to shoot some heavier super sonics, even if I only load one in the tube, and one in the chamber. That made me consider the 375 win. I ran into other issues, bullet selection for 38-55 and 375 win is all over the place because of various bore diameters throughout the two calibers' production runs.

Cast bullets had a lot of thread about the bore diameter problems. Their suggestion was to contact JES at JES reboring and have a rifle bored to .375, eliminating the bore diameter problem. That solution solved another problem, mainly a threaded barreled rifle for 375 Win/38-55.

I picked up a new Ruger-made Marlin 336, and shipped it straight to JES. It came back, and yeah, it's the freakin bees knees. I spoke with JES at length about wanting to shoot heavy subs, and we decided on using the 1:10 twist from 375 H&H over the 1:12 of the 375 Win.

So now, I've a pile of 38-55 brass I use when loading heavies, and 375 brass when loading lighter supers. The rifle is as pleasant to shoot as my 1939 6.5 Swedish Mauser. It is spot on, accurate, and a joy to use.

So, for a simple, reliable cartridge, if I had to keep one, yeah, this 38-55/375 win rifle I've had help cobbling together is my current pick.